Ten Times Teddy Lupin Proved Family Is More Than Blood
by OldValyriaRises
Summary: Ten short drabble pieces about Teddy and his role in the big, happy, messy Potter-Weasley family. Canon.
1. The Fail-Safe

_A/N: Hello!_

_These are short little Teddy-centric drabbles about what family is really about. Blood is thicker than water, true, but family is much more than blood. And Teddy really is a member of the Potter-Weasley clan, whether he likes it or not!_

_Hope you enjoy!_

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_23__rd__ May 2021 – The Fail-Safe_

"Ted?"

Halfway through reading the report that Ron had sent out to everyone at the Auror department, Teddy glanced up. He had been expecting to see Al standing in the doorway to what was his designated 'room' at Grimmauld Place, but instead, he found James.

It might've been his imagination, but the sixteen year old looked more than a little sheepish.

Teddy rolled up the parchment and set it on the bedspread beside him. "What's up, Jamie?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"I mean another one."

"Course you can. Come and sit down, if you want." James dithered in the doorway for a moment before deciding to take him up on that offer. Teddy waited until he had firmly plonked himself on the end of his bed before asking, "So, what's the question?"

"It's kind of embarrassing."

Now, Teddy was definitely intrigued. "Okay. I promise I won't judge."

"Or tell? Or laugh?" James warned.

"Or tell, or laugh."

"Okay, well…" James blew out a breath, and then said in one mega-fast splurge, "IwanttoaskoutAlicebutIthinkshe'llsaynobecauseshethinksI'manidiot."

Teddy blinked. "I didn't catch a word of that."

James's cheeks, already fairly pink, turned magenta. "I-I said that I want to… ask Alice out."

"Neville's Alice?" Teddy checked. James nodded, looking mortified. "Well, why don't you?"

"Because she thinks I'm an idiot," James shrugged. "And she'll say no."

"You don't know that for sure," Teddy reasoned. He'd often thought the same thing about Victoire, back in the day, but that had all turned out for the best. He thought of the way her face had lit up when he asked her to move in with him two years ago. Then, without meaning to, his mind wandered to the ring in the box in the back of his sock drawer. He wondered how her face would change if he ever got up the courage to actually give her it.

"She called me an arrogant prat the other day."

"So?" Teddy smirked. "Vicky says that to me on a weekly basis. Doesn't mean she doesn't fancy you."

"Oh," James muttered, eyes fixed firmly on the square of bedspread in front of him. "But how can I ask her? I'm not good at this sort of thing, and if I screw it up, Neville would kill me."

"Jamie…" Teddy lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I think that it's high time I introduced you to the book."

He wrinkled his nose. "A book?"

"Not _a_ book. _The_ book. It's pure gold." Teddy twisted on the bed, pulling out the little drawer underneath his bedside table and fishing around until his hand closed around a thin leather volume. He pulled it out and handed it to James with a flourish.

James squinted at the title doubtfully. "_Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches_?" He turned it over in his hands. "How is this supposed to help me?"

"It'll let you know how to go about asking her. Trust me. How do you think I got Vicky? Or Ron got Hermione? Or George got Angie? It wasn't luck, you know."

"Oh…" James breathed. There was a slight reverence in his eyes when he looked down at the book this time. "Oh, okay. So, I read this, and then what?"

"And then you ask her out. And she says yes."

James stared down at the book for a few long moments before he met Teddy's gaze again. "You won't tell anyone?"

"I promised, didn't I?"

He smiled. It was shaky at first, but Teddy returned it in earnest and it grew stronger. "Thanks, Ted. You're… well, you're a good brother."

And even though Teddy knew that he wasn't _really_ a Potter, it didn't seem to matter at that moment in time. Because his little brother had come to ask for his advice about girls, and that was a milestone that he couldn't help but treasure.


	2. The Ink Incident

_17__th__ November 2012 - The Ink Incident_

"Mr Lupin, do you think that this was funny?"

Teddy looked down at his lap, and the fingers he was twisting around each other in his discomfort. "No, Professor."

"Then please explain to me why you would do something like this."

Tentatively, Teddy raised his gaze. He immediately wished that he hadn't. Professor McGonagall's face was so stern that he very nearly lost his nerve and ran from the Headmistress's office. It wouldn't solve anything, though, so he forced himself to remain seated. He lifted his chin. "I just wanted to see if it worked, Professor."

"Surely your godfather has enough stories of his somewhat questionable antics during his tenure at this school for you to know that that cloak does, in fact, work?"

He blanched. He knew that his excuse was flimsy at best. "Yes, Professor."

"And poor Ogden has a weak heart, you know."

"Yes, Professor."

"He didn't need the extra work. You could easily have just accepted your punishment for being caught out of bed without adding an explosion of _mimbletonia_ ink into the mix. That greenhouse will take days to clean. You understand that, don't you?"

"Yes, Professor."

McGonagall peered shrewdly at him from over the top of her spectacles. "Do you have anything that you wish to say in your own defence?"

Teddy had plenty that he wanted to say, but he was fairly certain that McGonagall wouldn't listen. She wouldn't care that the miserly old caretaker had nearly caught both him and Vicky out of bed when they should have been tucked up in the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers respectively, and – former Gryffindor or not – she wouldn't consider Teddy's less-than-subtle diversion tactics gallant in the slightest.

It was his fault that Vicky was on the other side of the room, and therefore he couldn't get under the cloak in time before Ogden caught them. He _had_ to do something to distract him so that Victoire could sneak away unscathed, even if it meant landing himself in detention.

Encouraging rule-breaking was not something that the Headmistress would've approved of, and Teddy hadn't gotten Vicky out of trouble just so that he could drag her back into it.

So, he merely looked her in the eye and said, "No, Professor."

"No?" McGonagall gave him a severe look. "Well, so be it. I will be taking twenty points from Gryffindor for your actions, and you will be cleaning the greenhouse – without magic – in detention tomorrow evening, but I will take it no further at this point. Consider this your first and last warning, Mr Lupin."

"Yes, Professor."

"You may go."

Feeling thoroughly chastised, but not one bit sorry for his actions, Teddy stood and made his way towards the door. He had only got halfway across the office when McGonagall called his name.

"Oh, and Lupin?"

He half-turned back. "Yes, Professor?"

"Make sure Miss Weasley knows that she's lucky to have a friend like you. Someone so willing to get into worse trouble to protect her."

Teddy blushed. So she'd known all along? "Um…"

"Loyalty is an admirable trait, even in troublemakers." She paused. "You remind me of someone I used to teach, you know. I lost count of the amount of times he put himself on the line to get his friends out of bother. I think the two of you have been spending too much time together." He could have sworn that he saw her lips twitch. Certainly, her expression was less severe than it had been a minute beforehand. "Off to bed, Lupin. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Professor."

It was only when he was halfway along the corridor back to the Gryffindor common room that it dawned on him. Professor McGonagall had just compared him to Harry Potter. In a good way.

For the rest of the walk, Teddy Lupin had a spring in his step the whole way.


End file.
